First Read's Morning Clips: The Tax Plan Cometh

A security fence at the U.S. Treasury in Washington, D.C., in August 2011.AP

Breaking News Emails

Get breaking news alerts and special reports. The news and stories that matter, delivered weekday mornings.

April 26, 2017, 12:22 PM GMT / Updated April 26, 2017, 12:22 PM GMT

TRUMP AGENDA: The tax plan cometh

The New York Times previews Trump’s tax plan: “President Trump plans to unveil a tax cut blueprint on Wednesday that would apply a vastly reduced, 15 percent business tax rate not only to corporations but also to companies that now pay taxes through the personal income tax code — from mom-and-pop businesses to his own real estate empire, according to several people briefed on the proposal. The package would also increase the standard deduction for individuals, providing a modest cut for middle-income people and simplifying the process of filing tax returns, according to people briefed on its details. That proposal is opposed by home builders and real estate agents, who fear it would diminish the importance of the mortgage interest deduction. And it is likely to necessitate eliminating or curbing other popular deductions, a politically risky pursuit.”

And from the Wall Street Journal: “President Donald Trump on Wednesday is planning to unveil a proposal to cut corporate taxes on U.S. companies’ foreign profits and to slash the top tax rate on so-called pass-through businesses, including many owner-operated companies, to 15% from 39.6%, said White House officials familiar with the planning.”

From the Washington Post: “Trump has called Saturday’s 100-day marker — a remnant of President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s initial flurry of legislative action — an “artificial” construct, and he is not incorrect. Yet the kinetic energy emanating from the West Wing, which at times borders on frenetic, reveals a White House eager to cross the threshold with some tangible wins.”

“A federal judge Tuesday blunted the impact of one of President Donald Trump's executive orders on immigration, forbidding the White House from withhold federal funds from sanctuary cities — local governments that limit police cooperation with federal immigration authorities,” writes NBC’s Pete Williams. “Federal District Court Judge William Orrick issued a nationwide injunction in response to a lawsuit filed by San Francisco and nearby Santa Clara County. They argued that the president's January 25th executive order, declaring sanctuary cities ineligible to receive federal grants, was unconstitutional.”

Trump is going to order the review of the status of thousands of acres of federally protected public lands.

There’s a health care compromise floating out there, but POLITICO reports that moderates are not excited about it, casting doubt on whether it can pass the House.

The Washington Post checks in on the slow pace of Trump’s appointments. “The Senate has confirmed 26 of Trump’s picks for his Cabinet and other top posts. But for 530 other vacant senior-level jobs requiring Senate confirmation, the president has advanced just 37 nominees, according to data tracked by The Washington Post and the nonpartisan Partnership for Public Service’s Center for Presidential Transition. These posts include the deputy secretaries and undersecretaries, chief financial officers, ambassadors, general counsels, and heads of smaller agencies who run the government day-to-day. That’s less than half the nominees President Barack Obama had sent to the Senate by this point in his first term.”